Half Charges

The "Demi" Charges

In standard Heraldry a charge can be prefixed by demi, in which case only half of the charge will be shown. There is a heraldic convention by which animals are shown with their top halves, and most other things are shown with only the sinister half.

DrawShield (more or less) adheres to this convention, and charges that are not shown correctly can easily be changed, just let us know if you think any are wrongly split!

The "Half" Extensions

To give the user more precise control over displaying just half of a charge, the following prefixes may also be used:

• sinister half
• dexter half
• upper half
• lower half

The effect should be obvious. Top and bottom are acceptable synonyms, as is part in place of half. Examples of use are:

The sinister half of a mullet

2 lower halves of mullets

an upper part of a bull rampant

Rationale

Although this is not directly heraldic it seems a reasonable extension as it is perfectly acceptable English.

In addition however, the code is required anyway as part of a future implementation of charges which are described asissuant from.